TV Recap: ‘Legends Of Tomorrow: Left Behind’

Picking up right where the previous episode of ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ began, Sara, Ray, and Kendra watch the Waverider take off without them, leaving them stranded in 1958. Despite Ray’s instinct to stay in one place so the team can find them (as Eagle Scout literature says), Sara insists they move, as Vandal Savage still lives nearby, and the three of them cannot face him alone (assassin logic trumps Eagle Scout knowledge). So they find a large apartment (with what money exactly?) and as the ladies play boardgames, Ray tries to build a time beacon so Rip and the others can find them, even though a few weeks have passed. Sara points out that people are never late when they have a time machine, which means that she believes their teammates are dead, and will not be returning. So she heads off on her own, leaving Kendra and Ray to play house. 2 years later, Ray is a college professor teaching a man named Gates who has a son named William (ha) and Kendra is a librarian, and they live happily with Ray even about to propose to Kendra. First, he wants to show her his commitment by destroying the time beacon he created, but just at that moment the beacon activates they see the Waverider sail into view overhead.

So what exactly happened on the Legend’s ship? As Jax, Stein, Rip, and Snart flee the bridge, Chronos took control of the ship and hacked Gideon using advanced future tech, which led Rip to want everyone to flee on the jump ship. He then decides to not give up the ship without a fight, and he and Snart return to the bridge to battle Chronos, leaving Jax and Stein to escape on the jump ship (which is not a very good option as they are not sure the jump ship can survive in the time limbo). Jax and Stein merge into Firestorm and go back to help their friends, but all they find is Rip unconscious on the ground and Chronos gone with Snart, having stolen the jumpship for himself. Rip awakens and discovers Chronos has forced Gideon to strand them in the temporal time limbo, so he reboots their computer navigator, which leaves them wheeling through time while they wait for Gideon to resume control of the ship. When they finally regain control, Gideon informs them they have landed in 1960, and that there is a time beacon that they should track down (for some reason they know the beacon is their friends, no worry about it being a trap by Chronos or another Time Master).

As they pick up Ray and Kendra, Ray being a little put out as he was really enjoying life with Kendra, Rip apologizes for leaving them behind, and explains that they could not go back to 1958 to pick them up (because of wonky Legends Time Travel logic of course). Kendra is thrilled to be back with the team, as she knew she did not want to stay in the 1960s forever, even if she does love Ray and it meant they could build a life together. Now that most of the team is back on track, they still need Sara, and they theorize that Sara might have returned to the League of Assassins as it was her only “home” option in 1958. They head to Nanda Parbat, where Rip has the team wait while he sneaks into the League and rescues Sara, which already sounds like an awful plan. They are the League of Assassins, Rip! Somehow, he does manage to find Sara without being seen or heard, but because of “time drift” Sara has lost a sense of herself before she was stranded in the 50’s and now is fully committed to Ras al Ghul and being a member of the League. She helps the League apprehend the rest of the Legends, being sure to keep Stein and Jax separated and taking the ATOM suit from Ray, and then leaving everyone locked up, ready for execution, which is the punishment for trespassing in Nanda Parbat. While imprisoned, Ray and Kendra have a heart to heart about his hurt feelings as she was so willing to leave their life behind and rejoin the team, and she admits that she too was suffering from time drift, and was beginning to forget her old life, her past lives, and even lost the ability to hawk-out, which is why she was so happy to rejoin the team when they showed up.

Meanwhile, aboard Chronos’ ship, Snart demands to know why he was taken hostage, and surprise surprise, Chronos removes his helmet and we learn it is Mick Rory, only older, meaner, and a now a “lapdog” to the Time Masters. Apparently Snart did not have it in him after all to kill Mick, so he left him in that forest (planning to come back for him eventually), but Mick slowly went insane being alone, and having to strangle rats to eat. The Time Masters found him, trained him, brainwashed him, and then sent him after the Legends team, which is why Chronos has been so relentless in tracking down the Waverider. He keeps Snart locked up because he wants to travel to Central City and have Snart watch him kill his sister over and over again (thanks to Time Travel), but first he is alerted to the presence of the Waverider in 1960 Nanda Parbat, and first wants to end his old teammates before torturing Snart. As they arrive in Nanda Parbat, Mick leaves Snart aboard ship, and Captain Cold manages to free himself by freezing one of his hands, and then shattering the extremity, allowing him to slip out of his handcuffs and go help his team.

Rip, who apparently studied the League of Assassins history as part of his thesis in school, demands a trial by combat, which Ras Al Ghul is forced to accept by virtue of the traditions of the organization. He chooses Sara to be his champion, while Rip chooses Kendra, remembering how Sara helped bring out the warrior in Kendra, and hoping that Kendra can bring out the humanity in Sara. They duel pretty epicly, and eventually Kendra does best Sara by bringing out her humanity, and Ras is disappointed. But not for too long, as Chronos attacks the League, their arrows and swords hopelessly bouncing off his armor as he attacks. Ras is forced to free the Legends so they can stop Chronos, which they do, but before they can kill him, Snart arrives, and informs them that Chronos is really Mick. Ras releases Sara from her pact with the League of Assassins, and Sara tells Ras where to send Nyssa to find her in the future.

In the episode aftermath, Kendra reminds Ray that she still loves him, and wants to live with him aboard the ship. Rip has Gideon regenerate Snart’s hand, as apparently he obtained DNA samples from each team member before the mission began (ew). The team decides they are going to rehabilitate Mick, who does not seem thrilled at the idea, but they want to save their old teammate. And Rip decides he is going to take the team to a time he knew Savage was, but thought it was too dangerous to visit, and he has Gideon set a course for the year 2147.

THEORIES FOR TOMORROW:

– So since the little girl with Ras was Talia Al Ghul, does not mean we will be seeing her in the present in the Arrowverse? Or is she in the Arrowverse Gotham City with Batman these days? Or is she dead in the present Arrowverse?

– Why is everyone so keen on giving Mick a second chance now? Wasn’t it just a few episodes ago that they all agreed that the best course of action was for Snart to kill him? How is he any better now, after having been brainwashed by the Time Masters?

– Time travel still confuses me on this show. I still do not quite get why Rip, once he realized the ship emerged in 1960, could not just tell Gideon to go back to 1958 to pick up their friends.

Definitely a better episode than most of the previous season, though the Mick reveal was somewhat predictable, especially when you realize he only took Snart. Was cool seeing Ras Al Ghul and the League of Assassins in their prime, and finally meeting Talia al Ghul. Looking forward to see where they go for the rest of the season, and what dangers await the team in 2147 that so worried Rip. See you back here next week!

Nick is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, who belongs to the privileged few who enjoyed the ending to ‘Lost.’ For more of Nick’s thoughts and articles, follow him on Twitter.

Nicholas Graff

A Southern California native (which seems to be a rarity as everyone seems to migrate here from outside the state, and everyone else born here ends up leaving for less crowded spaces), but for Nick, he loves it here. Nick has been writing since he was a teenager, self-published his first book trilogy, 'The Legacy of the Roras' back in 2011, and in 2014 published the inaugural issue of his first comic book, 'The Shadow of Aquaterra.' While not working on my own projects, he is working as a technical film editor at a major television network in their digital media division and recently began writing news and recap articles for ScienceFiction.com, a position which he has found extremely rewarding.